Advani faces flak over N-E violence

Advani faces flak over N-E violence
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, DEC 18: Disclosing his intention of visiting trouble-torn Assam, Union Home Minister L.K. Advani today briefed the Lok Sabha about the overall situation in North-East. But a number of Opposition parties, including the Congress and the RJD who initiated a calling attention motion in the matter, staged a walkout from the House, accusing the Government with making a mess of the law and order scenario in the region, including Tripura, Manipur and Assam.

G.M. Banatwala of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUNM) sought to make a mincemeat of the Government's efforts to contain militancy in these states. ``It is unfortunate that the Government has taken a complacent attitude to the problem. It is also responsible for feeding certain prejudices to extremist activities. We constantly talk about high magnitude of infiltrations. These are exaggerated beyond proportion, as if there is an invasion. All this talk is strengthening these prejudices,'' he held. Banatwala lamented that para-military forces deployed in the region were far below their sanctioned strength.

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD), Pawan Kumar (Congress) and other Opposition members also criticised the Government on similar lines.

However, in his reply, Advani stoutly defended the anti-militancy measures. As for the deployment of para-military forces, he said their strength had been sanctioned keeping in mind the length of Indo-Bangladesh border and not the insurgency. ``But because of the rise in level of insurgency there, the forces had to be shifted from border areas.''

Giving details of the deployment, he said 128 battalions were stationed in Assam, 88 in Tripura, 34 in Nagaland, 74 in Manipur and 12 each in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

Admitting that the Government had not achieved a political solution in Nagalan, Advani however insisted that the militants too had been responding positively to the ceasefire for quite some time now was an achievement in itself.

Lashing out at ULFA, the most active militant organisation in Assam and believed to be responsible for the killing of 96 non-Assamese since October 22, Advani held that the outfit had been rapidly losing public support. ``There has also been a powerful backlash against its anti-national activities. Such is the demoralisation in its ranks that during past three years as many as 3,000 ULFA militants have laid down arms and surrendered to the Government.''